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Delaware Court Orders Richards Layton & Finger to Show Cause Over AI-Hallucinated Brief

Published
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17

Why it matters

The Delaware Court of Chancery has ordered attorney Richard P. Rollo and his firm, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., to show cause why they should not face sanctions for submitting a brief containing fabricated legal propositions generated by artificial intelligence. The court found that the submission raises an inference of violating Rule 11(b), which requires pleadings to be accurate and not misleading. Rollo and the firm now face potential sanctions under Rule 11(c) and the court's inherent authority.

The flawed Answering Brief was filed in December 2025 or January 2026. Opposing counsel identified the erroneous legal propositions on January 27, 2026, and a corrected brief followed the next day. The court has demanded a detailed accounting: how the generative AI tool was used, who entered the prompts, how the output was integrated into the brief, and why quotation marks were removed from the text while the false propositions remained. The court also wants to know whether Rollo personally reviewed the underlying judicial opinions cited. Additionally, the firm must produce its written policies on generative AI use that were in effect during the relevant period and explain how those policies were communicated to staff.

Attorneys should treat this as a direct warning about Rule 11 exposure when using AI writing tools. The case establishes that courts will enforce accuracy standards regardless of whether errors stem from human negligence or algorithmic hallucination. The practical takeaway: AI-generated content requires the same rigorous cite-checking and substantive review as any other legal writing, and firms should document their AI governance policies now. Failure to do so creates both ethical and financial liability.

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